Amazon has introduced Amazon Hub, a new network of parcel pickup points to Australian customers, and opened a fulfilment centre in Perth as well as four new facilities in the USA.
The new parcel pickup points in Australia are designed to offer customers more choice and convenience and consumers will have access to over a hundred Amazon Hub locations, with hundreds more available by the end of the year.
Thousands more across Australia are to come in 2020. More than 125 million items sold on Amazon.com.au can be delivered to an Amazon Hub location, which works with Free Expedited Delivery and Standard Delivery and doesn’t cost extra.
Patrick Supanc, WW Director of Amazon Hub, explained: “Since launching Amazon.com.au in 2017, we’ve committed to making e-commerce rooted in low prices, vast selection, and convenience a part of everyday life for Australian customers.
“We’re excited now to partner with large and small businesses in Australia to extend Amazon’s exceptional customer service and innovations in delivery by offering a quick and simple pickup experience.”
The Amazon Hub network includes two pickup point options, Locker and Counter. Originally launched in the U.S. in 2011, Locker is a self-service kiosk that gives customers the option to pick up their Amazon parcels from a location convenient to them.
Currently, lockers are available in dozens of Commonwealth Bank of Australia branches, Victorian Authorised Newsagents Association (VANA) locations, and Stockland Shopping Centres, with nearly a hundred expected installations by year’s end.
Counter is a pickup network staffed by store partners that enables quick and easy collection of Amazon parcels. It went live in more than a hundred VANA stores in Victoria, with hundreds more locations coming soon. Originally launched earlier this year in Europe, Counter has been positively received by store partners, helping to drive strong customer engagement and additional foot traffic for the stores.
Shipping to an Amazon Hub location is easy and secure. After shopping on Amazon.com.au, customers proceed to checkout and select the Locker or Counter pickup point that’s most convenient for them as their delivery location. As soon as their parcel arrives, customers receive an e-mail notification with a unique barcode and six-digit code that they’ll use to retrieve their parcel.
At the Locker, customers will either scan the barcode or use the six-digit code to retrieve their parcel. For Counter locations, customers will provide the barcode or the six-digit code to store staff, who will scan it, retrieve the parcel, and hand it to the customer.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s new fulfilment centre in Perth is being planned to enhance the customer experience on the West Coast of Australia. Operations are to begin in late 2019 and it will be located in the Perth Airport Business Precinct.
Craig Fuller, Director Operations, Amazon Australia, commented: "We are excited to be establishing our next fulfilment centre in Perth. This expansion represents the investment and development of our growth strategy in Australia, following a steady and progressive increase in customer demand.
"This new facility builds on the capabilities of our first two fulfilment centres in Melbourne and Sydney, allowing us to continue to fulfil our commitment to fast and reliable deliveries for customers across the country. We strongly believe that this further investment will benefit both customers and the local economy and give Western Australian (WA) customers quicker delivery of high demand items."
In the U.S., Amazon will open a 56,000 sqm large California Delivery Station at 400 Longfellow Court, around 40 km north of San José. Amazon said the new station will power its last-mile delivery capabilities to speed up deliveries for customers in the Bay Area.
In Auburndale, Florida, between Tampa and Orlando, the company is also planning to open a new fulfilment centre, creating more than 500 new full-time jobs. Employees at the 93,000 sqm fulfilment centre will pick, pack and ship large customer items, such as sports equipment, patio furniture, kayaks, bicycles, and larger household goods.
Additionally, another new facility in Grimes, Iowa, is expected to open in 2020. The online retailer will occupy a 10,000 sqm warehouse. The station will speed up deliveries for customers in the area and will create hundreds of part-time and full-time jobs, as Amazon reported.
In Mississippi, the company is continuing its investment by announcing a second fulfilment centre in the DeSoto County, around 30 km south of Memphis. The facility will create 500 new full-time jobs.
Associates at the more than 93,000 sqm large fulfilment centre will pick, pack and ship large customer items, such as sports equipment, patio furniture, fishing rods, pet food, kayaks, bicycles, and larger household goods.
